Gratituesday: Another Check on the Homeschool To-Do List

I love homeschooling, most days, I really do!  What I don’t love is trying to remember the Virginia-state deadlines for Notice of Intent and Proof of Progress each year.  And so, what I have done, in order to not have to remember deadlines, and to not have to deal with a missed deadline, is to schedule our yearly progress testing for Spring Break each year.  And since this week is Spring Break for the public school children in our county, TODAY was testing day!  

The state of Virginia requires homeschoolers to exhibit proof of progress each year.  Proof of progress can be demonstrated by achieving scores above the 23rd percentile on a nationally-normed standardized assessment or by completing an evaluation/interview with a qualified individual (for example, an individual holding educator certification in any state).  We choose to administer the standardized CAT-E to our boys.  I purchase the appropriate grade-level test for $25.00 from Seton Testing Services.  The tests are mailed to me at home; I administer the appropriate-level test to each of the boys at home following standardized procedures; and then I mail the tests back to Seton.  In as little as two or three days, I will have the test results to mail in to the school district! 

The CAT-E administration is easy, and except for a complaint now and then from Connor who wanted the answer to be cat or fish when it was mouse or some other less-favored animal, the testing session was non-threatening, and according to Ryan, actually fun.  Yes, my eight-year-old actually said, “I LOVE testing days!”  What?!

So, while our school-year is not over – we will, in fact, continue through the summer with a modified school day – just having our yearly testing completed is truly something to be thankful for!

This post is linked to Gratituesday.  

For more reasons to be thankful this day, visit Laura at Heavenly Homemakers.